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Video: NRA Flip-Flops on Background Checks at Gun Shows

National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre was caught in a contradiction during a congressional hearing on preventing gun violence today (video below).

The NRA has opposed universal background checks, claiming it would infringe on the Second Amendment rights, reports ThinkProgress.org.

However, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) reminded LaPierre that he supported background checks back in 1999 when LaPierre said “We think it is reasonable to provide mandatory, instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone. That means closing the Hinckley loophole so the records of those adjudicated mentally ill are in the system.”

However, today, Sen. Leahy asked: "You do not support background checks in all instances at gun shows?"

LaPierre replied: "We do not, because the fact is, the law right now is a feel your the way it is working. You have 76,000 people that have been denied under the present law. Only 44 were prosecuted. You are letting them go. They’re walking the street."

Sen. Leahy recalled: "Back in 1999, you said no loopholes anywhere for anyone. But now you do not support a background checks for all buyers of firearms?"

LaPierre then falsely claimed that the Obama administration was not prosecuting criminals that it caught: "The system the way it is working now is a failure. This administration is not prosecuting the people they catch."